Posts Tagged ‘content’

Keeping up with the Joneses is never easy — especially if the Joneses can outwork you, outspend you, and shout louder than you can. And if you’re vying for attention in a crowded online market, things aren’t getting any easier.

Out of 21 organizations we spoke with, only 1 does not have a designated social media person — neither part- nor full-time.

This means 20 of the 21 top nonprofits in the social media realm are paying at least one person to work part-time on their inbound marketing efforts. Some employ more than one person. Some employ those people full-time. And all of them want to ensure that their investments lead to results, so they’re willing to spend more money and allocate more resources toward reaching their organization’s goals.

Can you?

If not, here are five off-the-wall tips for maximizing the usefulness of your own inbound marketing — whether you’re competing against the social efforts of part-timers, full-timers, or an army of rabid devotees…

Let’s say you’re driving to the mall and, while you’re stopped at a red light, something bright and colorful catches your eye. You look across the street and see a giant inflated gorilla balloon, surrounded by multicolored streamers, all billowing from the roof of a mattress outlet store.

And, of course, you immediately think to yourself, “I need a mattress, now.”

Right?

Well… probably not.

At best, that gorilla balloon might draw your attention to the fact that there is a mattress store at that intersection. But unless you’re already in the market for a new mattress, you probably don’t think you need one now, and seeing a giant inflated gorilla isn’t going to change your mind.

So why do mattress stores (and used car lots, and thrift stores, and antique shops, and…) use garish outdoor displays to get your attention?

Your business lives and dies by the number of qualified leads (or potential customers) you can find.

Is your business already generating enough leads? If you’re anything like most of the business owners and executives I speak with, the answer is no.

What would it do for your business growth if your website was providing you with a consistently increasing flow of qualified leads? Or with lead intelligence that can help you decide where to best spend your sales efforts?

We study all kinds of social marketing campaigns — from companies, non-profits, artists and more. While we’ve seen campaigns big and small, cast wide and extremely focused, there are some universal tips that apply to any strategy you’re planning for your new customer outreach.

Often, it all boils down to getting the little things right.

Here are three examples of common sense outreach tips that your brand would be wise to adopt.

Earlier this week, we stumbled across this Facebook ad from Waldorf Ford and Dodge, a car dealership in Maryland that’s using Facebook and YouTube to attract new customers. But they’re not just using these channels to boost their page views and get more attention; they’re actively trying to solve their customers’ problems, reduce likely obstacles to a car purchase, and create a friendly bond between the brand and the potential purchaser.

Here’s one of their videos, in which they try to demystify some of the acronyms and jargon you find in most car sales brochures:

On the surface, this video may seem simple, but Waldorf’s big-picture approach to inbound marketing, we bet, is really paying off.

Are you convinced that your YouTube subscribers are waiting breathlessly for your next clip?

WAIT!

Whether you tweet for yourself, your company, or as part of a team-based branding strategy, here are 6 questions to help ensure your inbound marketing efforts are being underpinned by a sound social strategy.

In a recent column titled “How Brands Should Think About Facebook,” Advertising Age’s Jack Neff makes the case that Facebook is more useful as a brand loyalty tool than it is for attracting new customers. Depending on your brand’s goals and your audience’s Facebook habits, he may be right.

As he notes:

Research by DDB Worldwide and Opinionway Research finds 84% of a typical brand’s Facebook fans are existing customers.

And if that’s the case, then 84% of a brand’s Facebook time is going to be spent making happy customers happier, rather than delighting total strangers.

But what Neff’s article really got us thinking about was the difference between a wink and a kiss, and why Facebook is so good at helping brands score one kind of love but not always the other.